Amell's delivery of that "I made a promise to your mother to keep you safe and there is no world, there is no universe, there is no past, present, or future where I break it." speech was so good.posted by oh yeah! at 4:29 AM on November 20, 2019 [2 favorites]

i think this might not be the last we see of Anatoly, but the last where he's a major part of an episode. He'll probably show up at the end in some big sweeping _here's everybody ever_ scene. I'm glad they're leaving him alive and mostly happy.posted by numaner at 12:42 PM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]

Boy the budget for "we are in Russia" sure disappeared for this episode. One generic apartment, one generic fighting cage, some ridiculous accents. Ah well, it's a comic book.

It's a very weird plot device having Oliver figure out his family issues with his adult children who to him are still babies. The entire arc of Arrow has been about him dealing with figuring out how to live up to familial responsibility: his father's list, his Mother, the undertaking, his surprise son, his sister, .... So it's kind of cool to let it get to an end of "now we are all adults and can have adult relationships". Except Oliver hasn't had the intervening 20 years to learn to not give a fuck and just be a middle aged man who's waiting to be given grandbabies. It makes for a weird relationship.posted by Nelson at 7:02 AM on November 21, 2019

I'm glad they acknowledged in universe that Oliver is unequaled when it comes to hand-to-hand fighting. It's something that was established long ago but seemingly forgotten for a few years.

The Harbinger twist at the end was really great. I recently read the Crisis book, in which she and Pariah play a much bigger role (and the Flash is mostly sidelined) than in these shows, and it is interesting to watch how the shows are following, or not following, the story line.posted by plastic_animals at 10:34 AM on November 21, 2019

Mia still being Mia, I see.

I actually found this a bearable Russian episode, and I'm also glad Anatoly is alive and offering to be the screwy uncle, or whatever that was.

When this show is good, it's really good, low-budget sets notwithstanding.

The main actors, especially Stephen Amell and Willa Holland, have improved so very much since the first season when descriptions like awkward and wooden and hammy could be applied to their performances. Katie Cassidy also seems to have really come into her own playing this version of Laurel. It's nice to watch people progress in their careers and skills.

I, too, am happy to see what is essentially a positive ending for Anatoly and Oliver, (and yes, I expected there to be punches thrown, because the two characters didn't part on the best of terms after their last encounter). Anatoly is probably my favourite non-team-Arrow character (and some days, he even tops the Team Arrow ones by a wide margin).

Years ago, when they first mentioned that Lyla's code name was Harbinger, I was a bit miffed, given the character's critical role in DC history. It just seemed as if they were trying to cash in on fan knowledge without paying their dues. The comic nerd in me could have never imagined that we'd get to witness one of the biggest events in comic book history on the small screen. I can't say I was the biggest fan of Crisis--wiping out the alternate earths and eliminating so much of the company's history seemed to cut out so much of what made DC DC and differentiated it from Marvel, but it had to be acknowledged that it was a bold, game-changing move. So far, it seems that the Arrowverse appears to be delivering an homage worthy of the name.posted by sardonyx at 8:28 PM on November 25, 2019 [1 favorite]